The spirit sighed relief as the wind stopped cutting her, every gust of wind almost seemed to dissipate the faerie like a puff of flame. She took a moment to curl around her little ball of flame, taking succor in the warmth and warming her form. When she was satisfied, she opened her eyes, glowing orbs of gold, with a small mouth smiling warmly at her new friend. Itta had named the spirit Jakku, and insisted it go in her place. Few others were willing to even entertain the prospect, Miyuki found.

"Taajuk came out here to fight the thing that scared off Ms. Okalit," explained Jakku, her fiery wings unfurling more as she warmed up, as were her words, "or tame it. All the other mages, they're just researchers or treasure seekers. Taajuk is a fighter."

Jakku flew to Miyuki's shoulder, sharing a bit of her warmth, "He said he almost got to the door, and he was attacked." Her red hand pointed at the courtyard, past the car they were by. The snow-glazed sword seemed to be the only feature until Miyuki focused and saw that much of the drifts had been disturbed.

Those illuminating eyes gave the under-dressed mage a worried look, "He's in the hospital now, Ms. Kagami. He'll be okay, but he got really hurt. Be careful here."

Last edited by Kokuten on Sun Dec 31, 2017 10:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

The young woman surveyed the area before her. certainly, there was danger here, but it was nothing she hadn't seen before.The snow had been disturbed recently enough that the signs hadn't been completely covered, but the fierce wind and the drifts of snow would soon make amends to that, erasing all memory of what had taken place.

"Well, little Jakku, shall we venture further? I fear we may be wasting time simply observing."

Of course, she didn't exactly wait for an answer, and began striding forward, determined, but also wary and on guard, her eyes scanning for any movement, and her other senses doing what they could. As well, she was actively scanning for any magical presence nearby.

"Okay," Jakku mumbled, trailing after Miyuki at a slow, hovering pace. The small faerie was about to comment further on the matter, before the separate drifts of snow began to quiver and shake. Miyuki's new companion clamored over to hide behind her as decayed limbs and pieces of armor came rushing to the sword placed at the courtyard's center.

Two feet, clad in greaves planted first, followed by legs, then a torso, more armor peeling on to it as the body of a large sentinel was revealed. A massive bear of an undead man, a greyed beard flowing from a horned helm. This bowed figure was a viking, and it drew its sword from its pitched spot in the snow.

Jakku began to shiver in fear inside Miyuki's hood, as if the cotton would save her, "Are you sure your friend wants to be found?"

Miyuki furrowed her brow as she watched this undead guardian construct itself around the sword. Listening to Jakku's comments, she responded quickly. "I am sure that he does not practice Necromancy, and if there's death magic abound, it is either someone who looks like my friend, or someone else that does not want him to be found."

Without warning, everything made of frozen water in the immediate vicinity stopped moving, and then began to condense and coalesce around the Kagami girl, forming around her torso and most of her body a suit of articulated frozen armor, and in her hand a blade of similarly hardened and reinforced Ice came into existence.

"Whatever is going on, I shall do all in my power to get to the bottom of it," she assured the fire spirit, preparing herself for the undead guardian to make his move.

The viking aimed his blade at the ready Ice Mage, and his jaw hinged open, revealing a pale glow. Words began to billow forth from its mouth, and it's frozen features cracked to furrow a brow in return.

"Tirs dek'tal, bik dola sel-fried," hissed the construct, seeming to offer a warning with his blade. For emphasis he drove his boot into the ground, which seemed to drive Jakku deeper in between a divide in her armor, trying not to be seen. "Gorsh brak-tal."

Miyuki smirked, suddenly taking to drawing a small but elaborate pattern in the air with the index finger of her free hand, before opening a palm and letting out an immense burst of magical energy, shooting a howling freezing blast of ice with hundreds of times the force of a natural blizzard, concentrated directly at the construct.

"I don't have time to translate, so please, just get out of my way" quipped the Ice queen, as she did so.

The warrior whipped up a shield from the snow, just barely defending itself as Miyuki's terrible power whipped all loose debris flat against he wall behind the defender. An arena was revealed, the corpses of ancient warriors laid resting in long, lost death. They were covered in thin layers of ice, permanently etched into the floor. Runes of a civilization long past littered the edifices unconvered, but glowed with the warrior's same lively power.

"Dorshtal..." growled the warrior, having been sent several yards back by Miyuki's blast. He shook the shield, breaking off a layer of snow and ice. "Breka da."

The beast reeled over the floor, and moved with an agility no beast its size should have, it's blade came swinging.

Another swift pattern in the air, this time followed by the Ice mage whipping her hand to the side created a dome of thick ice, which came flying in between the two from the side, not meant so much to stop the beast's blade as to parry it and move it out of the way. The initiator of the magic moving deftly the opposite way, keeping her eyes on her enemy as it proved to be of quite sturdy sort.

"It seems that some quite powerful magic is embedded in this place. I doubt the beast itself is truly this powerful," Miyuki mused to the fire spirit, if Jakku cared to listen at this point.

"I can feel it, but I'm a little too scared to think about it!" wailed Jakku as she held on for dear life.

Miyuki's opponent came surging over the obstacle and slammed down heavily to brace itself. The undead warrior had a prowess to fighting mages, and made sure his shield was prepared in the face of spells. It seemed adamant to come down upon Miyuki with the full force its body implied. Though, it defied that motion as it tossed the heavy blade like a dagger to Miyuki's face.

Very swiftly and without any graceful patterns to precede it, a wall of Ice grew up from the ground between Miyuki and the tossed blade, and she cursed to herself as the move temporarily blocked her view of her opponent, but she left the wall in place to hold the sword, the Ice beginning to draw it in and do its best to destroy the weapon, packing the force of a glacier into the roughly coffin-shaped structure.

Miyuki swiftly moved closer to the edge of the arena she had found herself in, trying to see if she could sense what sort of magic exactly was flowing through the runes embedded in the walls. She scoffed, talking to herself now "If I can't undo the magic my best option is to trap him if possible"

An ancient necromancy spell held this place in its clutches, or rather, in its embrace. The construct drew from the words inscribed upon the walls, much like any guardian. Whatever the beast was, he wasn't much unlike this in life, perhaps even sentient from the level of spell which was inscribed. Someone more well-read could interpret the runes, someone like Percy. Though, Miyuki hadn't the luxury as her opponent could be heard growling amongs the sound of cracking steel.

CRANG! The relic-sword wailed as it snapped apart, sending the warrior into a fury.

"Ms. Kagami!" Jakku was leaning out of the hood, and could see the creature burst into the wall, the shield dissappating the strength of the magic. "M-Ms. Kagami! He's coming!"

In a berserk rage their opponent went rushing in, rattling the landscape in his charge, seeking to overpower the mage.

Miyuki stood her ground, staying near the wall and readying herself for something. It seemed that the brute's shield was capable of dispelling magic, and it also looked like he was going to try and smash her with it."Wait for it-" Miyuki said, ticking down the time and calculating the speed and distance of the undead warrior in her head.

"Now!" At the last second she burst upward, propelling herself into the air with a thin spear of ice, just enough to push her up and out of the way, but not enough to provide any resistance to the forward momentum of her opponent.

The fast moving warrior tore into wall of ice, and then into the enchanted runes. The stone cracked under the force. The shield split its way in much easier than it should have, indicating the strength of force Miyuki played with. Her gamble, however, had paid off as the embedded shield began to disrupt the runes. Realizing his error, the muscles of the undead hulk began to pull at the shield, but his control was too robbed of him to counter the trouble.

Instead, he held onto the hunk of steel for purchase as the light began to find from its form and then, collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"WHOOOOO-- Ms. Kagami! Wha- Whoa!" Jakku cheered, incredulous at the ice mage's cunning. She flew out of the armored hood, and threw her arms up into the air, "You were amazing! You weren't even scared!"

Miyuki's sword transformed into an oversized parasol of paper-thin ice, slowing their descent back down to thre ground as they watched the warrior become it's own undoing. "Just as Keikaaku" she gloated. "Keikaaku means plan-" she was sure to translate for her little spirit friend.

As they touched down on the ground, The Kagami girl's raiment of ice disappeared into thin air, leaving her clad only in the light clothing she had been wearing before. She boasted to the fire spirit; "Little Jakku, I have fought evil mages, dark spirits, gone to other dimensions, and even defeated a demi-god, a simple undead warrior is no match for me."

Miyuki inspired stars in the eyes of this small being.

"A demi-god!? Wow! This Percival person is lucky to have you!" Jakku exclaimed, starstruck by Kagami's power and presence. The spirit seemed to have never met someone so skilled, and she hung onto every word. "Or... He might be really unlucky if he has to face you. Either way, nothing could stand in your way!"

"Well, We'll see about that..." Miyuki responded to the spirit's praise before thinking to herself, Little does she know that Percival's ability to produce Mana makes mine seem insignificant, but at least I can harness mine on my own.

"In any case, onward we must go," she continued, searching around for signs of some sort of exit, or at least a path to further their journey, and hopefully find Percy. Jakku was rather helpful in this, as she quickly went to the the outcropping she had heard her prior mages trying to reach. The fire spirit waved.

Miyuki followed Jakku, heading up to the door and inspecting it. It was, in fact, a door. It was made from a dark wood, and was inserted into a metal frame. The runes surrounding it indicated it was vaguely magical in nature. A power hummed from the nob.

She hesitated for a moment, knowing that it could just be a regular door, or it could be booby trapped, though, with a door guard like the one she just defeated, booby traps were likely unneccessary. Without further ado, she grabbed the odd, humming door knob, and turned it, giving a pull on the door to open it.

The door creaked open and inside she found a deep cave, leading into what looked like a carved cavern turned into a study. As she walked in, she found that the air became a bit warmer, and bit more comforting with every step. Magic permeated this place, but mostly rose from below. Where she stood, she could see she was standing on a platform that seemed to run over a much deeper ruin. A faint light came from below, but presented nothing worth investigating over what was right in front of her.

A circle of tables, bookshelves, and doors surrounded a small well with a book-stand near it. A bed also lay near the well, unmade and messy. Along the walls and shelves, pinned, were several lengths of paper and parchment with a range of subjects covered upon them. The tables were laden with several alchemical instruments, interspersed with jars filled with dusts, liquids, and catalysts. The place was a regular alchemical workshop.

In one corner, where there sat a chair, was a special desk. Special, because it had personal affects, and of course, the chair. A journal lay closed at the center, a pen of proper quality sitting atop it. Kagami also found pictures of their troupe placed around more papers and more notes. Most of them were of him sitting or enjoying time with others, one with Ruarc, one with Coco, one with Jane, and one with Riley. She only found one frame that had only a single person in it.

Hers.

Miyuki was taken aback by the scene within. Although it did not surprise her that Percival would had set up an alchemical workshop and base of operations in a place such as this, the pictures did give her great pause. Many of these pictures were quite old, some over a decade. A couple were more recent but there was one picture, one frame, which made her heart ache, just a bit. The picture of her. It wasn't like the others, just two or three friends hanging out, having fun. It was special, different, singled out. She held back a tear, knowing she didn't have time for reminiscing; Percy had been gone far too long for her to waste time.

"Isn't this place just cozy?" she asked Jakku rhetorically, looking around to see if she could find either clues as to what exactly Percy was doing here, or, that might show her where exactly he currently was.

"It feels sad... and old..." answered Jakku, perhaps feeding off the feeling that Miyuki gave at the sight of the desk. She held herself a bit, looking around at the stolid nature of the place, the cold walls. There were several doors that lined those walls, many of them marked with numbers and letters. Magic roiled off their frames, Miyuki could practically see it with the naked eye. This place was charged with energy, a natural leyline must have rune through there.

The noise of a plastic pen hitting the floor echoed in the cavern as Jakku pulled the book on the desk open. The worn document lurched open, and the spirit mewled as she recovered from a solid tumble, but she crawled over to look on the pages.

"Oh!" Jakku turned away, realizing that he pages were hand-written, much like a personal journal, "I probably shouldn't look..."

Miyuki watched the little Spirit open the book, but instead of listening to Jakku, Miyuki herself began to read a few of the words on the pages. She moved closer, picking up the book and taking a good look at it. She read, flipping from page to page, looking for something that might help her. The magic flowing from each of the doors was too much for her to make sense of without some sort of context, or something to guide her, and so, she searched for clues within the pages.

Percy's writing was familiar, yet the passage of years had made it change, from the messy scrawl of a teenager to the still messy yet much more practiced writings of an adult.

"Ms. Kagami! You shouldn't read that! It's someone's private diary!" whined Jakku, as the practiced scribble and cipher was made apparent. Mages all wrote in cipher, it made it difficult for people to quickly glean research. Luckily, the cipher used was one familiar to Miyuki and her friends, one they had all developed to keep things secret.

Flipping through random pages, she found several notes relating to alchemical processes involving the body. Percival was keeping track of someone's health as well as indexing information related to the events leading up to the incidents at Ise. Then, something stood out in her quick scanning. A passage written in regular english. There were many, but this one was more than a single world, or minor phrase.

I woke up on the floor this morning. My condition is getting worse, the surges are happening more frequently, and my mana is ravaging my body. My studies point to a concentration in the stomach, especially for what I am experiencing. I think I'm locating the source of what is affecting me. I just need to balance the research with the investigation, and I will find some way to contain the spread.

I don't have much of an appetite anymore.

There were more, as Miyuki flipped through, seeking more answers to what Percival was trying to do here. The next one was dated a month later.

My confrontation didn't go as planned. I tried to reason with them, explain the situation plainly, but no one seems to trust me. I don't understand why people refuse to listen. My suspicions are matching up too well to the evidence to be wrong. If they don't do something I will need to. I must. We can't afford to stand by and wait.

If we don't, it will be the end.

I must. I must I must I must.

The book was only half way done at this point, and many more pages had more writing. As she read, Percival's scrawl became less focused, and harder to read.

I am dying.

My research has come to fruitless ends, and my condition continues to worsen. At this point I can only prepare for the worst. Wherever I go from here, I must go alone, otherwise I risk involving others in my demise should that time come. I can't afford to spare any more effort, I have to find the one that's targeting Ise.

Only a couple more pages remained. The research had stopped. At this point the doors were being tested and labeled, with speculations to several groups taking aim at the ancient shrine in question. Miyuki reached the last page in the unfinished journal, a final note, that appeared to be unfinished. The scrawl was at its worse.

The mirror. The mirror was the key all along. I was looking for a ritual when it was just the mirror. It's all that's required. I still can't figure out how one would take it, how they could even get into the shrine. Everyone with access to it would have had many chances for it. Only people aware of its magical prop

It ended there.

After reading through it all, Miyuki wasn't happy. It had confirmed some of her suspicions, that Percy wasn't trying to do anything bad to the Ise Shrine, in fact, he was also in search of the perpetrator. In spite of all that, Percy's writings had become more and more desperate as she'd gone through. She knew that he was in a bad situation, but he had apparently been hiding the extent of it from them all, including her. Despite the fact that they had gone quite far down the rabbit hole chasing him they had never quite gotten to the bottom of it.

"I'm not sure what mirror he's talkign about.." Miyuki mumbled, furrowing her brow in concern. At this point she seemed to have completely forgotten about Jakku, more interested in what was written on these pages. Frustrated, she finally just up and shouted.

"HEY! PERCY! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU? I'VE TRAVELLED PRACTICALLY TO HELL AND BACK TO FIND YOU SO YOU BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD EXCUSE!"

Jakku yelped as Miyuki exploded, flailing for cover as the moisture in the room began to spark into icy crystals. The little red light went into the well and the Ice Mage's words echoed through as she declared her ultimatum to her target. Her frustration announced itself back to her several times, owing to the great depths the cavern, showing how large it truly was. Unfortunately for Miyuki, and perhaps for even Jakku if this kept up, there was no response.

Except for a door, which creaked ajar. On the opposite end of the sanctum, one of the portals opened just so, as if not properly closed. The resounding energy in the room from Miyuki's presence shook the very stone, and the carelessly handled door answered. A dim light broke through on the end, an artificial one judging by the yellowed color.

A trembling faerie poked her head out of the well, warily eying Miyuki, "Ms. Kagami... Is this Percy a bad person?"

Last edited by Kokuten on Sun Dec 31, 2017 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Miyuki gave a strained smile to the little spirit, as she watched the door creak its way open suddenly. "No, little Jakku, he is not a bad person, per se, but he does have a habit of getting himself into trouble, whether it be with his allies or enemies." She sighed, rubbing her brow with a thumb and forefinger for a moment, before holding out a hand to the little fire spirit and beginning to walk toward the door.

"We might as well go after him, who knows what he's gotten himself into this time.." her words trailed off, as she had made her decision and was now committed to action rather than words as much.

Jakku seemed a bit reticent at first, but came forward anyway, reaching forward for Miyuki's hand, grabbing onto a finger as they made their way to the door. The faerie worked her way up into the Ice Mage's hood again, wrapping herself up rather safely, and observing over the shoulder as they pulled the portal open. On the other side was a dimly lit place, somewhere drowned in nighttime, judging by the hollow howl of the wind. As the mage stepped through, she felt a strange sense of recognition, in the air and in the surroundings.

Ise, Japan
Present Day

The Shrine of Amaterasu was less disturbed in the evening, Miyuki found. All the busy-bodies and reporters were gone in the week she left, and people were especially scarce at night. Looking to her return path, she had walked through a doorway of similar size and make, which still bled the cold of the return trip. Jakku seemed immediately tense, realizing what had happened as soon as they came through the door. Miyuki felt small arms wrap around her neck, a small head looking about just under her jaw.

There was an idle thrum of energy in this place. Miyuki was on a porch on the edge of one of the shrine's buildings. Ahead of her, she could see what looked like the origin of an explosion, spreading over the stone flooring of the outdoor area. The plaza encircled a smaller shrine that barely survived the release of energy that shook the Shrine initially. Within the small building, Miyuki could see something reflective, a mirror. A sizeable mirror. The make was immaculate, except for a crack that run up the center of the mirror in almost a perfect line. The small trinket hummed loudly, almost angrily in a low thrum.

Miyuki could see wards set up by the Occultus surrounding the trinket's shrine, a blaring REACTIVE - DO NOT TOUCH hovering in the front.

The presence of these wards seemed to displease the mirror. Somehow, Miyuki knew that. Jakku seemed no less unsettled, holding on tight the woman for security. "It looks like... um... He's not here. Maybe... Maybe we should go!"

"O, Little Jakku, this would be Japan, my homeland," Miyuki responded to the little fire spirit, taking in what was around her. Sure enough indeed, this was the epicenter of whatever had happened. She recognized it all from the images they had given her, though she had not been allowed to view it in person. It certainly felt different, part of the magical air of the place had changed from the previous time she had been to the shrine.

And yet, there it was, plain as could be, exactly what Percy's notes had mentioned; The Mirror.

"We can't go, not after we've come this far," the girl told the sprite, holding a finger up for Jakku to hold onto. "He may not be here, but I'm pretty sure I know where I can find him." Miyuki stepped forward, coming ever closer to the mirror. She ignored the warning, passing right through it, to stand just in front of the mirror, on its threshold, as it were. she studied the crack for a moment, pondering if it had been there long or not. Either way, she did not know. Taking a sharp breath, she held her other hand up, and gently poked at the mirror's surface.

As Miyuki approached the mirror, the air around her began to reverberate. She knew the vibrations were unnatural, mystical in nature, because she could still hear the distant sounds of urban life quite clearly. The object that the woman approached repulsed and snarled silently, it barked and howled in a muted voice. Jakku opened her mouth to warn her to stop, to try and convince her that this was a bad idea. The wards behind her began to trip off alarms and warnings, others would come to find her now. Whatever power laid behind the mirror warned with apparent threats that were imperceptible to anyone who couldn't feel the magics.

That did not stop Kagami Miyuki, as she feared nothing, not even the powers of Gods.

Eternity burned Miyuki's mind, she saw everything and nothing the moment she touched the mirror. Images flashed of creation and a portent of destruction weaved itself in many possibilities. Every nerve felt peeled from her skin, and then reassembled in place. She lost feeling, Jakku's small hands felt torn from her, and blackness consumed her.

"Ms. Kagami!"

"Ms. Kagami!"

The first thing the Ice Mage felt was a pair of small hands pressed into her cheek.

"Ms. Kagami!"

Miyuki's consciousness returned to her, and what she saw was a land of enveloping light. Around her were was a natural scene of grass and trees, which seemed to cut off too easily in the horizon. That same horizon, though, was littered with floating lands and historic castles in the sky. Jakku was next to her, trying to rouse her with utmost concern and anxiety.

Above her loomed a man. He was older, much older, and dressed as a priest would in a shrine. "Ma'am, are you alright? You have been comatose for some time."

Miyuki blinked, rubbing her eyes. It took her a while to become aware of her surroundings, but it was clear she wasn't in Japan anymore. She sat up, stretching a little and getting her bearings- or at least trying to, as everything was quite a bit different here. She looked at the man, examining his clothes, and at Jakku, glad that the little fire sprite was okay.

"I'm..." She began, getting up swiftly and shaking off some of the apparent sleep that she had been under. "I'm doing just fine, I suppose. Seems like I was successful, as far as I can tell." Looking around, she surmised that this place could have a lot of neat potentials.

"I cannot explain it, but you came forth from the mirror," the old man's arms shifted just so that his the sleeves of his robe parted to show something clutched in his arms. The very same object Miyuki had laid her hand upon moments ago. She could see her reflection staring back at her, until her image flushed away in favor of the images that had flashed in her mind earlier. The priest quickly covered the mirror again, aware of its power.

Jakku clutched Miyuki tight as she got up from the ground, buried at her front, her fiery warmth boiling at her chest. She looked up, her golden, molten orbs stared with wonder, "You were asleep for so long! You wouldn't wake up. You kept mumbling in your sleep."

The man in front of them spoke up, he bowed in greeting, "Kagami-san, I assume. I am Yasuo Genji. Why are you here? What brings you to the garden of Amaterasu?"

With a careful gaze, he looked towards the lingering castle attached to their island, "If you are here, I would assume something has happened to warrant a mage's visit to her court. Though... you do not seem to be one of the priests of the shrine, nor do you seem to be one of the Occultus' sanctioned inquisitors."

Miyuki picked herself up as the man spoke to her and introduced himself, bowing in return though she perked up immediately after. "Ah, you must be Yasuo-san's m8ssing father!" She exclaimed, feeling proud of herself for having solved at least part of the mystery.

"Well, I'm not actually here for Amaterasu, but rather for my friend Percival Caxton-san. I'm associated with the Occultus, though my primary loyalty is to the Safeholme Guild in Osaka." The young Kagami thought for a moment, extending a finger to Jakku so the little sprite could sit upon it.

Jakku perched upon Miyuki's finger dutifully, seeing a spot rest her tiny form and her flame-licked wings. She crossed her wings, and chose to stare at the old man with her molten eyes alongside the Safeholme mage. The Elder Yasuo seemed a bit off-put by the sprite, giving her a strange look, before returning what seemed to be a polite smile back to Miyuki.

"Caxton-san?" That smile got a little wider, and perhaps a bit more forced, "He is in the Court of Amaterasu. When he arrived here, I came along with him, to ensure the mirror he cracked did not shatter fully. It would be my pleasure to take you to him, as I fear the power the High God wields in this place, and I have been wary to approach alone to carry out my own business here."

The priest looked back to Jakku again, and this time, the little sprite's fingers pinched Miyuki's and she tensed. The fire spirit withered a bit, almost in supplication to the mage in front of them. Instead of gesturing ahead, the priest carried on from there, walking towards the castle. "You keep your kami on a loose leash, Kagami-san."